The ABS has recently released results from the Cafes and Restaurants Industry Survey and the Retail Industry Survey. This article examines the results for cafes and restaurants and takeaway food retailers (which is part of the retail industry) for the reference period 1998-99.

CAFES AND RESTAURANTS

These results are from the fourth ABS survey of employing businesses in the Cafes and restaurants industry for financial year 1998-99. Previous cafes and restaurants surveys were conducted in 1991-92, 1986-87 and 1979-80. The survey included businesses mainly engaged in operating cafes and restaurants for consumption of meals on the premises and businesses mainly engaged in catering services, but excluded those businesses mainly engaged in selling take-away food.

Number of businesses

At the end of June 1999, there were 12,845 employing businesses in the cafes and restaurants industry. These businesses operated at 14,199 locations, comprising 4,552 licensed cafes and restaurants (32% of all locations), 3,291 unlicensed cafes and restaurants (23%), 2,748 BYO cafes and restaurants (19%), and 1,891 licensed and BYO cafes and restaurants (13%).In addition, there were 1,716 locations operated by catering businesses, which represented 12% of locations in the industry. Excluding caterers, 52% of cafes and restaurants were licensed to sell alcohol.

Available seating

The cafes and restaurants had 1,057,083 seats available for consuming food on the premises. This represented 85 seats per cafe and restaurant location which varied from an average of 110 available seats for licensed cafes and restaurants to 62 available seats for BYO cafes and restaurants.

CAFES AND RESTAURANTS, 1998-99

Businesses

Locations

Available seating

Available seating per location

no.

no.

%

no.

no.

Licensed cafes and restaurants

4,197

4,552

32

499,414

110

Licensed and BYO cafes and restaurants

1,801

1,891

13

171,996

91

BYO cafes and restaurants

2,668

2,748

19

169,052

62

Unlicensed cafes/restaurants

2,861

3,291

23

216,621

66

Total

11,527

12,483

88

1,057,083

85

Catering

1,318

1, 716

12

. .

. .

Total cafes / restaurants

12,845

14,199

100

. .

. .

Sources of income

Businesses generated $7,174 million in income. Over half of this income (55%) was generated from sales of meals consumed on the premises. Catering services generated $1,265 million (18%) of total income with sales of beverages accounting for a further $1,117 million (16%).

Expenditure

Total expenses of businesses in the industry during 1998-99 were $6,805 million. The two largest expense items were purchases ($2,917 million) and labour costs ($2,109 million) which represented 43% and 31% respectively of total expenses.

Profitability margins and returns per seat

Cafes and restaurants recorded an operating profit before tax of $334 million, which represented an operating profit margin of 4.8%. The operating profit margin varied by type of cafe and restaurant with the highest operating profit margin being recorded by BYO cafes and restaurants (6.6%), followed by licensed and BYO cafes and restaurants (5.7%) and unlicensed cafes and restaurants (5.6%). The operating profit margin for catering businesses and licensed cafes and restaurants was 4.6% and 3.9% respectively. For 1998-99, the operating profit before tax (excluding caterers) represented an annual return per available seat of $251.

Employment and labour costs

Total employment in the industry was 152,107 persons, of whom 63,093 (41%) were waiters and waitresses. Just over half (51%) of persons working in the industry were casuals, which was reflected in the average labour cost per employee of $15,000.

State dimension

Employing businesses in the cafes and restaurants industry were concentrated in the eastern mainland States, with 79% operating in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Businesses operating in New South Wales accounted for 33% of industry employment and 37% of industry income which was slightly above the New South Wales share of the Australian population of 34%. Businesses operating in Victoria accounted for 25% of industry employment and 23% of industry income compared to its share of the Australian population of 25%.

Business size

Small businesses dominated the cafes and restaurants industry with 11,730 businesses (91% of all businesses) having employment of less than 20 persons. These small businesses accounted for 55% of industry employment and 52% of industry income. In contrast, there were 61 businesses in the industry which employed 100 persons or more. While large businesses represented less than 1% of the businesses, they accounted for 22% of industry employment and 27% of industry income.

Statistics for employing businesses mainly engaged in selling takeaway food have been released as part of the Retail Industry Survey 1998-99.These businesses are classified to class 5125 of the Australian and New Zealand Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).

The results show that at the end of June 1999 there were 13,121 takeaway food businesses operating at 15,357 retail locations, with an average floorspace of 89 square metres per location.

The operating profit before tax of takeaway food retailers was $485 million, with an operating profit margin of 6.5%, one of the highest when compared with other retailing businesses, and higher than for cafes and restaurants.

There were 166,612 persons employed in the takeaway food industry, of which 4% were working proprietors and partners, 19% were full-time employees, and the majority (77%) were part-time employees. Females accounted for 59% of the employment in this industry.

Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.